1. (Field of the Invention)
The present invention relates to a remote controlled actuator capable of altering the attitude of a tool by remote control and a support device therefor and, more particularly, to a remote controlled work robot for use in the application such as, for example, medical or mechanical processing.
2. Description of Related Art
Remote controlled actuators are currently known; some are used in the medical field for osteal treatment and some are used in the mechanical processing field for drilling and cutting. Any of those remote controlled actuators is of a design used to control by remote control a tool fitted to a distal end of an elongated pipe of a linear or curved configuration. In the medical field, however, since the conventional remote controlled actuator is designed to control only the rotation of the tool by remote control, difficulties have been encountered in dealing with a complicated shape and processing at a site difficult to view with eyes from the outside. Also, in the drilling procedure, the capability of dealing with not only the linear line, but also the curved configuration is often required. Furthermore, in the cutting procedure, the capability is required to perform the procedure at a site deep in a groove. In the following description, reference will be made to the medical field in discussing over the conventional art and problems inherent in the conventional remote controlled actuator.
In the orthopedic field, the artificial joint replacement is well known, in which a joint, of which bone has been abraded by reason of bone deterioration, is replaced with an artificial joint. The joint replacement surgery requires a living bone of a patient to be processed so that an artificial joint can be implanted. In order to increase the strength of postoperative adhesion between the living bone and the artificial joint, such procedure has to be performed precisely and accurately to suit to the shape of the artificial joint.
For example, during the hip join replacement surgery, an access opening for the insertion of an artificial joint therethrough into the femoral marrow cavity is formed in the thigh bone of a patient. In order to secure the strength of contact between the artificial joint and the bone, surfaces of contact of the artificial joint and the bore must be large and the access opening for insertion of the artificial joint has to be processed to represent an elongated shape extending deep into the bone. The medical actuator for use in bone cutting purpose has been known, in which a tool is rotatably provided in a distal end of an elongated pipe and, on the other hand, a drive source such as, for example, a motor is mounted on a proximal end of the pipe so that the tool can be driven through a rotary shaft disposed inside the elongated pipe. (See, for example, the Patent Document 1 listed below.) Since in this type of medical actuator a rotatable element that is exposed bare to the outside is only the tool at the distal end of the elongated pipe, the tool can be inserted deep into the bone.
In the practice of the artificial joint replacement, skin incision and/or muscular scission are generally performed. In other words, the human body must be invaded physically. In order to minimize the postoperative trace, it is quite often desirable that the elongated pipe referred to above is not necessarily straight, but is moderately curved. To meet with this desire, the following technique has hitherto been suggested. For example, the Patent Document 2 listed below discloses the elongated pipe having its intermediate portion curved double to displace an axial position of the distal end of the pipe relative to the longitudinal axis of the proximal end of the same pipe. To make the axial position of the distal end of the pipe relative to the longitudinal axis of the proximal end of the same pipe is also known from other publications. Also, the Patent Document 3 listed below discloses the elongated pipe rotated 180°.
[Prior Art Literature]
                [Patent Document 1] JP Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-301149        [Patent Document 2] U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,429        [Patent Document 3] U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,231        [Patent Document 4] JP Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-17446        [Patent Document 5] U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,092        